Wikipad Re-Emerges as $249, 7-inch Gaming Tablet

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Android gaming tablet returns with a smaller, less expensive model.

By Scott Lowe

It has been a long, tumultuous road for the Wikipad gaming tablet. It made its public debut at CES 2012 as an 8.1-inch, glasses-free 3D tablet with a bundled controller dock attachment, only to be later redesigned as a 10.1-inch device with Gaikai's streaming gaming service baked-in and its staple 3D capabilities nowhere to be found. But after production delays and facing criticism over its $499 price tag, the device's makers decided to go back to the drawing board and re-imagine the product as a 7-inch device with a more competitive price of just $249, all while retaining the same specs of the original 10.1-inch prototype.

The new 7-inch Wikipad runs Google's Android 4.1 OS and sports a 1280 x 800 display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage with expandable microSD support, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor. The Wikipad outpaces the Archos Gamepad — a $169.99 Android-based gaming portable slated to arrive this year — boasting more processing power, a higher resolution display, and more local storage. Like previous iterations, the 7-inch model will ship as a standalone tablet with a removable snap-on controller accessory.

The Wikipad will support the full gamut of titles on Google Play, as well PS One games through PlayStation Mobile. The tablet will not, however, feature Gaikai's streaming gaming platform as originally planned due to Sony's acquisition of the service this past July.

While the company thinks the 7-inch variant of the Wikipad will be more alluring to consumers, it hasn't abandoned its plans for a 10.1-inch model. While the larger version has yet to receive a firm release window, it will reportedly feature new and improved specs based on the current industry standards.

Barring any further revisions or delays, the 7-inch Wikipad will ship this spring.

Scott Lowe is IGN's resident tech expert and Executive Editor of IGN Tech. You can follow him on Twitter at @ScottLowe and on MyIGN at Scott-IGN.